I wasn't going to update today as I have to get up to the Isotope to accept the thanks of a grateful nation for causing to have been produced Planet of the Capes (in-shops April 28th but even now, courtesy of the U.S. Post Office, winging its way to bloggers across this great land of ours [and Canada, too, if you're David Fiore or Steve Wintle], but after seeing Tim O'Neil's Part II of his already complete analysis of Astronauts in Trouble, I had to drop what I was doing and give a link. Also, I'm thinking notorious cranky-pants Chris Butcher, for one, might have trouble with this: "... Larry Young seems too preoccupied with his own humility." Come to think of it, my own mother probably would, too.

And as much as I was flattered by the first part of this one, the end of it absolutely slayed me: "I think Astronauts in Trouble is the best thing I’ve so far read from AiT/Planet Lar. It’s as good an adventure comic as you can hope to find on the stands today – intelligent without being cerebral, mordant without becoming Wodehouse In Space. I hasten to say that this Larry Young fellow has a bright future in comics – with a resume like AiT I expect he’ll get himself a gig writing Thor or Metamorpho in no time at all."

For a sneak peek at the Capes through the eyes of world-class Comics Pimp James Sime, make sure to read his latest column. Man, I sure could get used to all this love.

Not too much time to surf around today, as catching up after the Montana trip is taking longer than I thought, and I'm getting ready for Friday's Proof of Concept. But Ken Lowery has a real nice review of Johnny Dynamite up, which basically hits all the same reasons I like the book. Nice one, Ken; thanks.

Also, Planet of the Capes has just been delivered, and will be in-shops next Wednesday. Man, ol' Brandon McKinney sure did good.

Also, also: just had occasion to post this, in response to someone trying to insult one of our projects: "A work is what it is; it's neither 'posing' as something it's not nor is it 'juvenile and half-baked.' People see what they want to see. The work is the work, and anything else is an individual's interpretation of what they bring to the work. Now you can argue all day long about which interpretation is the 'correct' one... but not with me. :) " Which I guess proves I'm growing as a human being since I didn't cuss once.

You know, Tim O'Neil sure is flattering me. Today he wonders how, in the face of how the comics industry is, why people like me even bother doing comics. The short answer is because I don't like how the comics industry is, and instead of trying to compete with everyone else for the privilege of writing Batman, I just go about with my talented friends and make the comics we want to see. What's going on in comics is so far away from what Mimi and I think should be going on in comics that it really doesn't bother me that much. It's like talking about the price of gasoline in New Hampshire. I'm sure the people in New Hampshire have some strong opinions about how that goes, but it doesn't impact me over here in California, you know? So the monthly superhero cats can do their thing, and we'll do ours and that'll be that.

Speaking of flattering, Bill Sherman has some nice stuff to say today about Astronauts in Trouble. Between Bill's review and Tim's from yesterday, I'm filled with the milk of human kindness today, I am.

Our printer, Quebecor, has just sent over advance copies of Planet of the Capes, and I gotta tell you, Brandon McKinney is a genius. One of the criticisms I heard a lot from unmannered louts on the Internet was that Brandon's art on Switchblade Honey was too "retro." What's that mean, really? As in, "back when artists knew how to draw," I'd guess. Anyway, I wrote up a story which makes Brandon's style shine, so, this time, if anyone says the art looks too "retro," we'll be able to point out that it serves the story. Honestly, it's my big fear that the comic book reading audience will eat this one up and force us to do more superhero stories...

Laura Gjovaag gives Channel Zero: Jennie One a look and finds it... not Demo. Which is a good thing, if you ask me.

David Jones turns the spotlight on Johnny Dynamite, Abel, The Annotated Mantooth! and Available Light which get an A-, a B, a C, and an A-, respectively, on The Johnny Bacardi Show. Me, I thought The Annotated Mantooth!, just by its very format, rates higher than an average grade, but it was my idea, so of course I would think that. Comics would be a glorious entertainment industry, indeed, if the awesomeness of The Annotated Mantooth! represented an average, solid C effort.

Just got back from Muse Comics, in Missoula, Montana, where we were treated like kings. Amanda Fisher and Jeff McElroy have a world-class comics shop, and it sure was nice to meet everyone who came out to see us. Amanda and Jeff had 100 goodie bags made up for their customers, and they figured that'd last the four hours we'd be signing.

They lasted less than 90 minutes.

There was a live radio feed (where Ryan talked about Scurvy Dogs [which Ken Lowery reviewed on Saturday], Bri did station idents, and I got to do my AiT riff ["You've got your astronaut stories, and your stories which feature trouble of some kind; my particular genius was to put the astronauts in the trouble!"]), and the Muse grand re-opening starring us was the lead story on the Sunday night TV news.

Man, that was cool.

Meanwhile, back on the blogs, Tim O'Neil serves up an interesting critical take on Astronauts in Trouble, and gets it right. "So Astronauts in Trouble is Heinlein without the heaping side order of Ayn Rand" was a particular fave.

Mike Sterling steps up to the plate with a real nice review of Last of the Independents, which you know and I know was the best original graphic novel of 2003. Mike stops short of actually saying that, but "Recommended for fans of Eastwood and Leone (as mentioned previously), Straight to Hell, and Preacher...." certainly says that to me.

Laura Gjovaag gives me hope for "civilians" who read comics: she sure seems to be absent the prejudices most comics fans have against our Jerry-Bruckheimer-meets-Stan-Lee presentations and just enjoys the comics. Laura Gjovaag, we salute you.